Iranian Agricultural Extension and Education Journal

Iranian Agricultural Extension and Education Journal

Farmers’ Mental Models of Crop Switching Under Water Scarcity Conditions: The Case of Basht County

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
KhodaAfv Rashednasab
Maryam Sharifzadeh
Mostafa Ahmadvand
Department of Rural Development Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran
10.22034/iaeej.2025.511981.1855
Abstract
Mindset precedes and fundamentally explains behavior. This research aims to clarify farmers’ perspectives on shifting from water-intensive crops to low-water crops in Basht County using the Q method. The participants were experienced farmers cultivating water-intensive crops, selected through purposeful sampling of critical cases to establish a dialog space that continued until theoretical saturation was reached (three rounds). A combination of data from in-depth interviews and contextual notes led to the extraction of 39 statements. To ensure data credibility, member checking was conducted with group members and participants, and the researcher engaged in reflexive self-assessment; transferability was supported through rich, detailed descriptions of the data set. The collected data were entered into SPSS version 26 and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. The results revealed two distinct mental models regarding the cultivation of low-water crops among the farmers, accounting for 34.55% of the total variance. The model explaining the largest share of variance was the “Support-Oriented” mental model (22.14%), which holds that the adoption of low-water crops depends on government support through incentive packages such as grants or credit for inputs and seeds, low-interest loans, guaranteed purchase prices aligned with production costs, production subsidies, insurance compensation with farmer participation, production oversight and support (including tools, equipment, and inputs), marketing assistance, investment in processing and complementary industries, and attention to household and community livelihood resources. The second model, the “Infrastructure-Oriented” mental model (12.40% of the variance), emphasizes that developing key infrastructures (such as regional testing and research on low-water crops, promoting contract farming with investor involvement, and financing infrastructure development through a strategic plan) will facilitate crop substitution and address production challenges including ecological risks, production constraints, and economic difficulties.
Keywords
Alternate crop
Basht county
Drought tension
Farmers&‌‌‌rsquo
attitudes
Q Methodology
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Iranian Agricultural Extension and Education Journal

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 December 2025